Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Second Ruin (3)
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“Kratos! Kratos—!”
Seamus desperately called out Kratos’s name in the pitch-black darkness, but this accursed black space permitted nothing. Not an echo, not even the faintest glimmer of light.
He couldn't even move easily. He was sure he hadn’t let go, but at some point, he felt nothing at his fingertips. As if by magic.
“Hah… this is driving me crazy.”
He had never seen or heard of a place like this. A place so menacing without posing any direct threat.
He threw some junk from his pocket right in front of him, but it made no sound at all.
If he was indeed standing on a floor, there should have been the sound of an object hitting it.
Thinking it was better to walk somewhere than to do nothing, Seamus cautiously took a step forward.
But within this space swallowed by darkness, it was impossible to tell if he was actually walking, how much time had passed, or anything else for that matter.
“Kratos—! Is anyone there?!”
He couldn't have been the only one who entered.
Since he couldn't see Kratos or any of the Imperial researchers and soldiers, the word "fear" began to rear its head in Seamus's mind as time went on.
The fear of what would happen if he could never escape this place.
“If only I were a little stronger, would things have been different…?”
And just as his sense of time began to blur.
“Wind…? Gray?”
A gray wind blew from behind him, pushing back the black space. It felt less like wind and more like some kind of energy.
“Aaargh—!”
When someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder from behind, Seamus screamed and wildly swung the sword and torch in his hands.
“Get a grip! Seamus!”
“K… Kratos? Huh? Something’s… different…?”
Once the black space receded, the Kratos he saw was the same one from when he’d entered, yet he felt remarkably different.
“Let’s deal with them first, then talk.”
Not far away, the Imperials who had entered the space before them were still staggering around in a daze.
Kratos twirled his hammer and effortlessly pulverized them. Literally, in the blink of an eye.
“Let’s go back.”
“Ah, okay. But are you sure we don’t need to look around more? The Imperials were definitely trying to get something from here.”
“Here? There’s nothing.”
The now-illuminated area was, quite literally, a vast, empty space.
There were no peculiar drawings on the walls, nor was there anything distinctive.
What was more surprising was that despite feeling like he had walked a great distance, he was less than four steps from the entrance.
If they had the time, they could have occupied the place and waited, but they were on a mission with the other corps members and couldn't afford to waste time here.
“Ah…”
“We’re more likely to find some intel in the encampment outside than in here. We need to destroy the antenna, too.”
Seamus followed Kratos, who waved his hand as if it were no big deal and walked out, as if mesmerized.
.
.
.
.
.
*Grind—*
As soon as they stepped out of the entrance, the ruin, just like the last one, burrowed into the ground and vanished.
“It really disappeared. What’s the principle behind it? There was nothing but a huge cavern inside.”
“Who knows. I don’t even have a clue what the Empire was trying to do here.”
Of course, that was a lie. This confirmed it. The Imperials were clearly searching for something related to the Venatio species.
Even if their exact purpose was unclear. That left the question of why the Venatio, of all species.
On this planet, teeming with diverse races and monsters across this continent and the eastern continent beyond the sea.
Why the Venatio species, specifically? If I had to guess, perhaps it had something to do with the characteristic of ‘Annihilate Evil.’
“Hmm. Search the tents. See if there’s any useful intel. I’ll be busy breaking this.”
As Seamus entered a tent, Kratos casually struck the base of the antenna in the center of the encampment.
You have to take everything you can get, right?
As the antenna toppled, he guided its tip toward an empty area by pulling it with a thin, thread-like extension of his Spiritual Power.
As the antenna fell, black demonic energy began to seep out, and he neutralized and absorbed it at a speed incomparable to before.
Of course, the efficiency wasn't as high as the first time. It wasn't a situation where he could take his time absorbing it, either.
What would people say if they saw him? Absorbing demonic energy?! Being called a spawn of demons would be the least of his worries.
The reveal of this demonic energy absorption and purification had to be impactful. So impactful that no one would dare to doubt him.
[Demonic Energy has been purified. Spiritual Power has increased by 5. An additional stroke is drawn on the ring of Spiritual Power.]
As his Spiritual Power stat hit 50, the familiar system notification chimed in with pleasant news.
“Nice. Very nice. It seems the ruins offer the biggest rewards. My Spiritual Power stat went up by 5, and my Spiritual Arts reached the 2nd Star. The rest is in the realm of pure, hard work. And that’s the easy part.”
These ruins and that antenna full of demonic energy were truly the best tonics. To think they would give so generously.
“Kratos! I found it!”
Seamus, who had been diligently searching for documents in the encampment, suddenly burst out, waving a piece of paper.
“A nearby black mage research lab!”
The document Seamus presented listed the black mages near Lagaris.
No, to be precise, it was a list of black mage research labs secretly established by the Central Intelligence Bureau.
“They really try everything, don't they? About three locations?”
It seemed they were operating as decentralized cells after the incident in the capital. When the Holy Kingdom raised such a fuss, even the Empire couldn't completely ignore it.
“That’s it! I think I’ve got everything useful. Let’s head back now!”
By now, Seamus’s bag was bulging, seemingly about to burst with all the papers he had gathered.
“Whoa—you grabbed a lot. Organizing that will be a chore. Let’s go. Think the battle’s over?”
Kratos set fire to the entire encampment, then boarded the boat moored by the cliff and began to row slowly.
Burning things tainted by demonic energy was a more certain method of purification than just leaving them be.
“Probably. If it’s anything like yesterday. What could possibly go wrong?”
“You’re jinxing it. ‘Did we get him?’ You should never, ever say things like that. Even dead enemies come back to life.”
“What? Is that a joke? Was that supposed to be funny?”
***
“Quiet.”
“What is it?!”
“The outer wall has been breached.”
The moment their boat landed near Lagaris, Kratos’s expression hardened, and he moved swiftly toward the city.
“What?! The outer wall?! But why all of a sudden?! And how can you tell from this far away?!”
“I have my ways. I’m going ahead, follow me.”
Channeling Spiritual Power into his legs, he kicked off the ground. The surroundings blurred past like scenery viewed from a train window.
*Screeeech—*
The outer wall of Lagaris, visible in the distance, was crumbling. The gate that had once staunchly defended the city was half-destroyed, its pieces scattered about.
And one thing stood out. The monsters were moving in a straight line through the gate toward the inner castle, as if with a clear purpose.
Except for the private houses along the monsters' path, the other buildings were completely untouched. The number of corpses was also fewer than expected.
“I definitely destroyed the antenna. What’s going on? Is there something else?”
In the desert, destroying a single antenna had sent them scurrying away. But this time, they were still ramming themselves against the inner castle, intent on breaking it down.
He didn’t know if they had made some technological advancement in the meantime or what.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I just have to kill them all.”
*Crackle—*
Spiritual Power erupted from his hammer like lightning.
“Haaah—!”
Focusing Spiritual Power into the soles of his feet, he leaped, soaring a good eight meters into the air.
He descended like a hawk, diving toward the head of a troll in the middle of the monster horde.
*CRASH—!*
The hammer struck the troll’s head directly, unleashing Spiritual Power in all directions and tearing the surrounding monsters to shreds.
This was all an application of the Spiritual Arts he had learned in the ruin. To put it simply, emission.
His Spiritual Power was still unrefined and very coarse, but the entity in the ruin had greatly expanded his perspective on it.
One troll remained. Leaping onto its head, he slammed his fist down on its skull with all his might.
*Kuaaaaargh—*
As the troll thrashed in agony, shaking its entire body, he jumped off, grabbed the club it was holding, and swung it like a baseball bat—
*Thwack—*
*Thud—*
Its head caved in by the fist and the club, the troll collapsed, shaking the ground.
“Heh. This is awesome. This is the highlight!”
A thread of Spiritual Power extended from his fingertips and coiled around the hammer’s handle.
“And with a flick of the wrist—!”
The hammer, spinning like a boomerang, began to tear through the monster horde, emitting waves of Spiritual Power.
Even though he had thrown his hammer into the middle of the monsters, it was no problem at all.
If he didn’t have a hammer, he had his fists!
That was partly because he could smash the skulls of smaller monsters with his bare hands, but that wasn’t the only reason.
With a flick of the hand connected to the hammer by Spiritual Power.
The hammer, which had flown far away, shot back as if drawn by a magnet and settled perfectly in his hand.
“Yeah—! This is it!”
A grin stretched from ear to ear. How magnificent was this?
“Waaaaah—!”
From atop the city walls, the soldiers’ cheers erupted.
Wasn't this the perfect trifecta? Appearing at a moment of crisis, wiping out the monsters, and looking cool while doing it.
Indeed, while there was a certain satisfaction in using an enemy's weapon, the ultimate thrill was retrieving a thrown weapon as it flew back to your hand, rather than having to awkwardly run and pick it up.
“Open the gate! We counterattack!”
“Prepare for battle—!”
The soldiers, who had been cowering until now, threw open the firmly shut gate and charged out at once to launch a counteroffensive.
“Kra—tos—!!!”
Doug Reinhardt, leading the charge, hacked apart a monster with his axe and roared Kratos’s name.
“You man of fortune—! You’re the best! The absolute best!”
The other corps members following behind also showered Kratos with praise.
Ah, why am I the one feeling second-hand embarrassment? And after such a cool entrance, too.
***
“The Empire… the Empire.”
Derek Heinman sighed as he looked over the documents Seamus had presented. Of course, even with all this information, they couldn't directly link the Empire to the black mages.
The papers Seamus brought back only had the words "black mage" and a few locations written on them.
Even if they made the connection, the White Mercenary Corps couldn't be the ones to reveal it. And even if they told the Holy Kingdom, the aftermath would be unmanageable.
If they were misunderstood for slandering the Empire during such a chaotic time, the very existence of the White Mercenary Corps would be in jeopardy.
But information was always crucial.
“Hoo… black mages. We’ll have to deal with this on our way.”
Lando let out a sigh at the escalating scale of the situation. The Empire, black mages, kidnappings, and monster waves. Not a single easy task among them.
“Good work. In the end, that island was another unidentified ruin. I have no idea what the Imperials are doing there.”
Derek thought of the southern mountains where the Captain had gone. The last contact from him mentioned the discovery of some "ruin" there as well. Had the Captain found the same kind of ruin?
“And the fact that the monsters’ behavior didn’t change this time even after destroying the antenna tower means the Empire must have prepared some other auxiliary measure.”
A deep silence fell after Derek finished speaking.
Everyone could feel in their bones that the situation was far from easy.
“Let’s focus on finishing the job in Lagaris first. That includes raiding the black mage research labs.”
Right, they had to handle the immediate tasks first. And the tasks at hand were by no means simple.
And they absolutely had to deal with those black mages.